Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee

Diolch, Chair. Good morning, Minister, and your team. What are your priorities for forestry and woodland in Wales?

Thank you, Janet. Good morning, Chair, and good morning, Members. I think forestry and woodland creation remains of crucial importance to this Government and it's partly predicated on the advice given by the Climate Change Committee, about, of course, the clear evidence that we have that woodland and forestry can create—. It's not only just a clear and obvious contributor to carbon lock-in and carbon measures, but also the potential that is has as well in terms of creating opportunities within the rural economy as well. So, it is twofold here. It might be helpful, perhaps, to touch on some details.

One of the things that I've described when I visited recently a small family business just outside Tregaron: I was really impressed with the number of people that they were employing there within the rural economy—within the mid Wales rural economy—and their scope for expansion, if they have access to local timber. So, that’s one aspect of it—it’s the need to create what we could describe as a wood economy, but then actually using those products to lock in carbon for the long term. So, rather than use them in short-term things that last for five years, actually into house building.

So, on the work that we’ve been doing within Wales that my predecessors, Julie James and others, have been focusing on, for example within timber construction, within house building—we have specific programmes at work now within Welsh Government, because this goes right across Welsh Government, that work with small and medium-scale enterprises so that we use that timber in construction. Because then we’re locking it in for the long term.

But in addition to that, there’s the issue of what we can do with community woodlands, and this is an approach of ours throughout Wales, so trying to develop our woodlands where the community is genuinely involved with it. We’re looking at creating 30 new woodlands, by the way. I was at—. I launched, about four weeks ago, the latest six as part of the national forest, but many of those are managed or operated by volunteers as well who are deeply engaged in it.

There’s our commitment to the national forest as well, and I think that is a big, bold aspiration for Wales. We’ve got to make it work and we’re constantly thinking through live time—what’s the best way to expand that? Do we do it on a piece-by-piece jigsaw basis or do we look at something that is greater in a sort of spatial approach to it? But that ambition is great for Wales. We know how denuded we are right across the UK, compared to other western European nations in particular. We do need to do more with woodland, and also things such as strengthening protections for ancient woodlands.

So, we have massive ambitions for it, partly driven by our carbon budgets and our net-zero ambitions; partly driven by a genuine knowledge of how much woodland can create those good environments that we want to see locally as well. But we need to do this with people and with farmers as well, by the way. That’s the other important thing to say in terms of the sustainable farming scheme, whatever we bring forward as a result of the work that’s now intensively ongoing, we need to make sure—. And I’ve said this very clearly to farmers: I want farmers to have first dibs if there is the right woodland in the right place within their farm that they can contribute to, or, indeed, that they want to get into—not in highly productive farming land, but to create forestry, to get wood into that timber production south of Tregaron, or wherever. They should be first to the pile there.

When will you publish the outcome of the lean review and what are you doing to attract more private investment into woodland creation? And also, when will the timber industrial strategy be published?

So, the lean review, I think, has pretty much been put into place. That's an ongoing thing. We've already dealt with some of the aspects of making more efficient the way that we—

Is it published?

Well, Gian Marco or Claire, do we have a publication on that?

Good morning, everyone. I don't think we've published the outcomes of the review. What we've done is we've taken some of the learnings from the review and built it into, in effect, our grant management processes, including working with Natural Resources Wales, but what I would say is it's a constant process. Basically, what we're doing is looking at what is the most efficient way for us to manage the—

How can we see evidence of that, then?

I'm sure, if the Cabinet Secretary agrees, we can write to the committee just to show some of the changes that we've made, if that's helpful.

Yes.

And then the final one on this: can you provide an update on the governance arrangements for implementing a national forest? When will you achieve the connected network of high-quality woodlands running throughout Wales?

That, again, is an ongoing task. Since I've come into post, about eight or nine weeks ago, one of the things I've been presented with is options for taking the next stage of the national forest forward. That ambition that's been developed over the last year, two years, where we have actually joined up pieces developing towards a national forest, the question is: how can we go further and faster? So, one of the things we're exploring at the moment is whether we can do this on a larger spatial footprint, and there is tied into this, I have to say, those other strands I mentioned earlier on about how we develop community woodland, buying from farmers or landowners as well—the right woodland in the right place, all of that.

So, the governance: there isn't a formal governance; there isn't a board that sits over this. This is directly answerable to me and to the First Minister. It remains a priority in the programme for government to take it forward. But what we can report on on an ongoing basis—I'm happy to come back to this committee—is to show what the next stage of thinking will be, and we're currently going through that, deliberating on that, as I turn my head to where we go next, and we should be able to report as we go forward, periodically, on how we are not just putting that jigsaw together, but what our strategy going forward is to expand it, because we know it's got a big buy-in from the Welsh public as well on this. But the governance—there isn't a formal governance board as such.

Okay.

We skipped over the question about the timber industrial strategy, because that was something we were supposed to see. While it was originally intended in 2022, it's now, we're told, being published in 2024.

Yes.

Are we on track?

My anticipation—. If I recall correctly from all the various briefings that I've seen, we're intending to consult going into the autumn and then to bring forward something in the early part of next year, then, with a full timber industrial strategy. But I've already, Chair, just to reassure you, been fully involved with officials in how we take that forward, and it remains a firm commitment of ours, because we recognise, as I mentioned in my remarks to Janet then, the importance of this to the rural economy, as well as to what we can do with woodland creation and forestry.

Given its importance, it is rather disappointing, then, that it's delayed further, if you like.

Yes, but I do think it's important that we get it right and we've been consulting on this; we've been engaged with stakeholders extensively. I don't know whether my colleagues want to add to some of the work that's already been done on this to get to this point.

So, I think, just to reiterate what the Cabinet Secretary has said about engagement, there's been a lot of work with the forestry sector around what they're, I suppose, looking for from the strategy, and I think really positive feedback. So, we're really hopeful that, when we publish it for the formal part of the consultation, it's very much a sort of shared set of objectives and ambitions around the role that timber can play in the rural economy, but also in driving jobs and skills and a range of other things. So, we would have liked to have been able to move forward more quickly, but I think we're in a good place at this point.

Okay, thank you. Julie, you wanted to come in.

Yes, I just wanted to ask about the development of community woodland in urban settings, which I think is very important. In Cardiff North, in my constituency, which is almost totally urban, there are small pockets, such as Flaxland Avenue in Gabalfa, where we've got small woodlands looked after by the community. What are you able to do to encourage that sort of development?

I think there is scope for that. We've created six new posts for woodland liaison officers. Now, I don't know to what extent they're engaged in our urban areas as well—I might turn to colleagues on that—but that has immense potential. If you look at the biggest NRW investment in community woodland creation, it's in the south Wales Valleys, it's in the Spirit of Llynfi, just above Maesteg in my own patch there. So, I think there is immense potential. But the advice and support within urban settings—.

So, the woodland liaison officers are focusing particularly on bringing things into the national forest, but the concept of the national forest is it should be in all parts of Wales, including in urban areas. Programmes like the tiny forests—we've got a number of those around—really have offered, I think, some really great opportunities in quite densely populated areas for small areas of woodland that communities really engage with. There's a number of those projects, many of you will have them in your constituencies, and we want to continue to build that kind of programme.

Okay, excellent. Thank you. Very briefly, Carolyn, and then we'll move on to Delyth for our next subject.

[Inaudible.]—said. Will local authorities still have to produce tree strategies?

Sorry, I beg your pardon, I missed the start—

So, will local authorities still have to provide urban tree strategies, where they calculate where the trees are, where they're going to plant—?

I do not know the answer to that, I'm afraid.

Okay.

We can come back to you on that.

Yes, come back to us on that, because, effectively, you're saying that they used to. So, it would be interesting to see whether that still is a requirement. Okay, diolch yn fawr iawn. Right, we'll come on to Delyth, then, for our next subject area.

Diolch, Gadeirydd. Bore da. Please accept my apologies that I'm not in the room with you, I'm suffering with the remnants of COVID, and I'd hate to pass on any horrible cough to anyone. So, it's lovely to see you on the screen. I wanted to ask you about clean air, Cabinet Secretary. I know this is something that you feel very passionately about. The clean air Act has been passed, but by another name, of course, the Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024. Could you outline, firstly, please, what work is taking place to set an air quality target for PM2.5 as required by the Act and whether you're confident that that will happen within three years?

Yes, I think we're on target. The work that we're carrying out, as committed by my predecessor in the role, to develop the PM2.5 target, Delyth, I think is on target. As you know, we set two duties, actually, for Welsh Ministers to set targets for pollutants: fine particulate matter by February 2027; there was also bringing forward additional targets, then, by 2030. There is a lot of work to be undertaken to get that right, so determining the scope of the targets, the options that set the right level of ambitions, but that are also, as my predecessor said, feasible, deliverable, and also that we do the proper engagement and consultation. But we're well on track with that work, so we're set to deliver on that duty by 2027 for the PM2.5 particulate.

Thank you for that. In terms of the other pollutants, would you be minded to follow what this committee had recommended during scrutiny of that Act, that we should follow World Health Organization guidance in terms of what the other pollutants should be? Could you give us any information, please, about what other pollutants, at the moment, you are minded to include in terms of setting any targets?

Yes. I'm conscious now that this is real poacher turned gamekeeper, having been on this committee—[Laughter.] So, excuse me for putting my other hat on for a moment. Sorry, Delyth, one thing I forgot to mention as well, in terms of PM2.5, it's worth committee knowing that we're hoping to bring forward public consultation on the target options that I described to you in my answer there in autumn 2025, and then to consider the advice and determine the next steps for those, then, as we take that forward. That's in line with the timing, then, as set out while the Bill was going through as well.

On the WHO issue, committee members will know that the WHO guidelines are based on health considerations; they're not meant as recommendations for legal standards, per se, but they're focused on health recommendations. What they do do is provide quite compelling benchmarks for consideration in that broader context of regulatory target setting within Wales. So, it's a little premature at the moment for me to start setting targets without giving due consideration to, again, this issue of practicality and the types of measures required to deliver them—that will take a bit of a time. And what I don't want to do as well—and I realise that I'm echoing here the views of my predecessor in this post—is set unrealistic targets that could lead to actions that are neither proportionate nor achievable nor feasible. So, we've got to get this absolutely right and that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be ambitious, but we've also got to be able to achieve those targets as well. So, that's why there was a focus on setting these out in the secondary legislation. But, again, we will take this forward based on the evidence, with cognisance of the WHO recommendations as well, but with proper consultation. I'm glad you prodded us on it, but that's part of our schematic now, going forward.

Thank you very much. Finally from me on this—. If you could keep the committee updated, please, as your thoughts on that progress, that would be really useful.

When we talk about anything to do with air quality, particularly if we're talking about pollutants and things that aren't going to be visible, there is that gap between what we know needs to happen, and what experts tell us needs to happen, and where the public might be in terms of how engaged they will be, how on board they will be with having to make quite substantial changes to lifestyle and to habits. How will you want to see work taken forward to ensure that the public is engaged, that it's not just kind of frightening people, but that people truly can understand the differences that changes in their behaviours can make in terms of children's health, in terms of the health of unborn children? You know, how badly air quality can affect people's health and that we can all make a difference in that. So, how do you want to see that behavioural change work happen, so that people feel that they're part of the solution, rather than things being demanded of them?

We're really focused on this. This committee has been very good, over a number of years, at focusing not just on the hard data and evidence and technical analysis of what drives the improvements that we want to see in air quality, but also the behavioural science, and that's critical, because we need to explain to people why we're doing this.

Now, some air pollution is much more clear and obvious than others. You go down certain stretches of motorway, you go down certain stretches of urban highways and people can taste it; others are less obvious, but equally insidious and damaging to people's health. But trying to explain that narrative to people and then bring people with us, particularly, by the way, as we look at what other targets we might bring forward in future, which might not be those obvious particulates that people have a good understanding of—. But I might turn to Claire here, in terms of some of that work, to explain better to people and the behavioural analysis that we need to do to do that. And it isn't just for the public, of course, Delyth—and I know you know this; it's also with wider stakeholders. It's how we affect people's lives, but also how we affect the decisions of stakeholders. So, for example, at some point in the future—and I've had these discussions with some in the farming community—if we turn our attention in future, for example, to issues around ammonia, actually explaining and bringing farmers with us to say there's a reason why we need to do this, as well. But, Claire.

There's quite a lot of work going on in developing our communication strategy and the public engagement piece around this. We've been really lucky, during the work on the development of the Bill, to be able to work really closely with a number of partner organisations that are already campaigning on this issue. And I think one of the things we'd recognise is that Government can be effective in this space, working alongside other organisations, some of which may be more trusted sources of information. So, that's going to continue to be a really key feature of our approach. Also, making the connection with the very well-developed climate change communications work. There are—what's the word—mutually beneficial actions that can be taken that have both a good carbon benefit, but also an air quality one. I think there are some real opportunities to build on what's a really strong behavioural-science-based approach and get more value for our impact across those multiple benefits. There is quite a lot of work already going on, but, again, we'd be able to provide some further detail on the specifics to the committee, if that would be helpful.

Yes, it's always helpful to have any additional information that's available. Diolch. I'd like to move on to waste now, if I may.

Can I just ask a little question?

We're very short on time—I did explain—so very briefly.

Okay. Regarding air pollution, the biggest issue is idling cars in traffic. We passed the Bill, didn't we, so what are we doing regarding publicity on this and enforcing it, or trying to do something about it?

Yes, indeed. Idling is part of the proposals that we are taking forward. This is definitely one of those areas where we're going to have to work with the data, but also to explain to people why this is a necessity to deal with it, as we see those cars, taxis, buses, still parked outside, still with their engines running. There's a real piece here to persuade people of the importance of doing this, for young people who are passing by, for elderly people, or for parents with pushchairs that are hanging around those stops there. Claire, the work ongoing within idling—

That is part of the communication, because it's a really obvious, as the Member said, simple behaviour change that we need people to embrace. That's a key area for action within the communications plan.

Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to waste, if we may. Before we maybe get on to other things, I just wanted to reference the Dispatches programme, which has caused great concern for many, if you look at some of the allegations made in that programme. You've subsequently asked Natural Resources Wales to review what action it took to investigate the complaints raised there. Can you tell us a bit about the scope of what you asked them to do and whether that includes maybe consideration of whether they have sufficient resource to act in a timely and effective manner when these kinds of issues arise?

I don't think, in terms of the recent ask we've made of them to do a review, we're asking them to look at the issue of resource because—. By all means, they can look at that, and if they come back to me and say there's an issue of resource—. But, I'm not convinced it is that, Chair. What I've asked them to do is, since the concerns were first raised a couple of years ago now, to look at all the actions that they've taken, in both regulatory, investigatory, et cetera.

I have to be quite frank with the committee that, on some of these, they will not be able to share with me the full details, because if there are investigations ongoing it's not for me to be party to them, because I also have, potentially in this and in other situations, an appellate role, where things can be elevated to me if necessary.

However, I've asked them to review all the actions that they've taken. This is not to say that I suspect that there is a gap or a deficiency in the actions they've taken, but I've asked them to go back in and look at everything to see whether there's something that has fallen short, that they've missed, that they've omitted. I think that's the right thing to do, particularly on the back of the Dispatches programme.

There is, Chair, a wider issue as well here, I think, which I'm very cognisant of. In the Dispatches programme, which I take very seriously, and there's a role for really good investigative journalism, it didn't simply look at one site, it looked at the wider issue of quite serious allegations of not only collusion, but deep criminality within waste and recycling. We have a really positive story to tell about recycling here in Wales: we were on the floor of the Senedd last week, looking at the fact that we've moved to second in the world, and that is absolutely brilliant. But we absolutely need to make sure that that is not jeopardised in any way, not just here in Wales, but in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, by anything that would undermine our drive to drive down landfill. We've made massive inroads here within Wales in reducing the amount within landfill, to drive up our recycling, and so on. But where there are issues, where there are allegations of criminality, et cetera, those need to be properly investigated.

What I can do, if it's of any help, is to write to the committee with almost the A to Z of the work that's going on between NRW and other agencies, and the work that's being done on a multi-agency basis across the UK in terms of investigating and tackling criminality within the waste industry—which won't come as a shock to some people. It's not simply the Dispatches programme; there are programmes going back many years that have investigated this. But I think there's been a real acceleration between measures, between the investigation agencies, the police, serious crime agencies and so on, to get behind this. I think we could almost spend a whole session on this, but if you're happy, I'll write to you with detail of what's going on, because I think, at the moment, there's a perception out there that nothing is happening. Well, actually, I'm very aware of the extent of the close working that's going on on this big issue of how we drive criminality out of the sector.

And I'd be particularly interested in the relationship between Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Revenue Authority as well. It's those kinds of, as you've said, different agencies and stakeholders, how they come together and at what point in the process, and all of that really, so—

Very much. And just to give reassurance on that, not only have I met on an ongoing basis, and very recently as well, with NRW, who fall under my purview as Minister—. They have their role to do as a regulatory body, but I have spoken to them about this, and I've brought them in, along with Public Health Wales as well, in terms of the Withyhedge site. I am looking as well to sit down with both NRW and the WRA, and other Cabinet Members going forward, to make sure that we are completely across this, and nothing is being missed. Because we have such a good story to talk about—the overall headline issues on recycling, what we're doing on waste and what we're doing on landfill—and we do need to drive out, wherever there are—. We need to investigate properly, wherever there are allegations of criminality. We also need to drive that out. And that is a hard piece of work, because that's been, I think, an issue that's been ongoing for quite some time, but what I've seen, since I've come into the post, is the extent of the engagement on this, not just in Wales, but right across the UK as well. And I'd be happy, as much as we can, to share with the committee, perhaps in writing, what is going on.

Thank you. Yes, that's great. Thank you. I appreciate that. So, more generally then, looking at the headline issue, do you believe that Wales is on track to meet the 2025 target set out in 'Beyond Recycling', and what are you doing to support those local authorities particularly that aren't meeting the target, either currently or the 2025 target projected?

Thank you for the question, and thank you for writing to me in advance as well. My officials kindly set out in far more detail than I can, in the response, some of the things we're doing. That was a challenging ambition. We know the strain we've been through. If we look at some of the local authorities that are currently being highlighted on the floor of the Senedd or whatever, every authority that's been through the task of helping us get to these targets, I've got to say, are to be commended. There are difficulties in getting there, but, my goodness, the support is there to help them, and that includes the—. We've laid out some of the things within there. We're supporting local authorities to help improve their performance. We're sharing best practice. We're linking local authorities to local authorities. I met with the Welsh Local Government Association last week, and we discussed this and the way in which local authorities, through the WLGA network, support each other, because we are at the point now where we have a significant—. I think it's four local authorities are meeting the 70 per cent target.

Six.

Sorry, six. Six—thank you very much. We have quite a number now who've passed the 65 per cent, and we've got others that we are helping to uplift there. Part of that is targeted capital funding, part of it is the waste management grant, part of it is the work that we're doing with the models to support local authorities, and that is genuine support as opposed to hitting with a stick, to get all boats to rise together, and we're working on that very steadily.

So, it's an ambitious target, the one that we're currently set on, let alone where we might go next, but we're getting there. We really are getting there. And I just want to say a genuine heartfelt thanks to not just the local authorities, but the members of the public, the depots, the people who work on the collections, and everybody who's helped us to do this, because getting to second in recycling in the world is, from where we were before, which was embarrassing, a hell of an achievement, and everybody should have a pat on the back for that.

Indeed. I'm sure we'd all endorse that. Carolyn.

I welcome the targeted funding to help, because I think targeted funding, as well as policy, will help, especially when you've been struggling. I know some of the guys and they walk 12 to 13 miles a day collecting recycling—it's a tough job—and if you have a vehicle breakdown, it sets it all back, but it's a really good story to tell. So, are there any additional policies that you'd like to put in place to increase recycling rates, as well that targeted intervention?

Yes, absolutely. Some of the headline ones are what we did most recently with the workplace recycling, which I know had yourself included—and thank you for doing that—raising some issues on the floor of the Senedd with the practical implementation of it and so on. But what struck me, Carolyn, was, relatively speaking, because of the support that we put in place and the guidance that we had for different sectors and so on, how that progressed in a much smoother way than some of our initial forays into household or kerbside recycling that we had done some years ago. Because people are now in the mindset. That thing about bringing hearts and minds with us—people are now, ‘We get it, why we have to do this.’ And we've had to re-emphasise that on the floor of the Senedd this week: the reason we're doing this is because we need segregated rubbish that is clean, that is not messed up, because that affects the quality of the materials that we have afterwards. So, things like the workplace recycling, I think, are very important, but it's also where we can go next as well.

And then we are into the territory of things such as the extended producer responsibility that we have coming down the track very, very soon. Indeed, it's where we go on DRS as well—deposit-return scheme—and the reuse as well as recycling. All of those will help.

But we're also doing a lot with our research community. So, things such as the circular economy innovation communities programme, which is looking at that circular economy, run by Cardiff Met University. What we can do on sustainable public sector procurement, where we've got a real focus on that. We have good teams here behind the scenes who are really focused on it. We've got, of course—. On DRS, we just trialled in Brecon very successfully the world's first full-town digital deposit-return scheme—very successful. We might bring something forward subsequently on the back of that as well. But, ideally, what we'd want, Chair, is to do DRS on a Wales basis with all in, but we're working on that.

Can I just come in on that, on your DRS? A lot of it ended up back on the kerbside. What I'm really concerned about is two things: on-the-go waste, which you see piled up in the public bins, and it's that litter that's an issue, when people have bought while they're out or taken products out with them and dumped them, basically. So, how do we deal with the on-the-go waste issue?

There are a number of ways in which we can deal with that. One is the emphasis that we've had, both in terms of some of the campaigns that we've run, but also the regulatory measures we've taken about moving away from single-use products into either recycled products or cups and stuff that you can actually bring with you and so on. I think there's more to be done within that space. We'd be interested, actually, in whether the committee has any thoughts on this. But it's also what we can do with the extended producer responsibility, because if you put it on to the producers of the packaging, the waste, et cetera, that the cost lies with them on a classic polluter-pays principle, and local authorities get a revenue stream of it, there are two impacts with that. One is we will see that local authorities have a revenue stream to deal with picking up the stuff downstream, which we shouldn't have to do. But, secondly, it pushes it upstream, so that more of these producers for takeaways and everything else, and supermarkets, start thinking, ‘Well, maybe we can do with less packaging, less waste, at the start.’ So, I think it'll drive innovation. But, Claire, I don't know if there's any—

Can I just add—? So, you're looking at DRS. So, I think DRS for on-the-go, but I know it's going to be difficult to put these sorts of collecting receptacles into stores. But I think, for the on-the-go waste, if it's there, you know, where people can take them in the stores or near where they bought them from, it could be an issue. Are you looking at a fly-tipping plan and litter—fly-tipping and littering? Because I read in the report in the last session that there was a plan coming forward that an non-governmental organisation referred to. So, can you tell me more about that? Because that might also do it. So, we've got we've got the carrot. What about the stick?

Absolutely. Claire.

So, just briefly on the extended producer responsibility, so as well as the DRS for the drinks containers, the extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging will have a litter element, and, as the Cabinet Secretary's mentioned, that is about encouraging people to think about whether the packaging is necessary in the first place, and, if it is produced, then the producer is responsible for the costs required in collecting and then processing that material.

And I guess—. So, if there's a barcode on it, they've scanned that when they bought it. Mind you, they might not then know who it belongs to.

Yes, and then, on the litter strategy, we have been working on a plan. I'm not—. As you'll be aware, there is a general emphasis on trying not to publish too many more documents, but whether or not we actually publish it in terms of a plan of action, we will be communicating what we're proposing to do and the timescales by which we're proposing to do it.

I think that would be welcomed by local authorities because, if we're clamping down on recycling, and those authorities to get to that target might have to move to four-weekly collections if they've not, they're concerned about the extra bags that get left by the side of litter bins. Maybe removing bins from public spaces and lay-bys, which is what we did, so they have to recycle—. But I think there's something that needs to be done there for the on-the-go waste and littering. And my last—

It's may be worth mentioning, Carolyn, as well that in the debate we had yesterday on the floor of the Senedd, I made reference there to the sustainability clusters. Those are the sorts of innovations that can drive change as well within these sectors, including the takeaway and the reuse with those. But also Business Wales, it's worth mentioning, has a package there that is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises to help them develop circular economy thinking around their businesses.

So, there are numerous ways in which we can keep pushing this forward and driving the innovation, but you are right—it needs to be carrot and stick. People who fly-tip, or whatever, and some of this was picked up in Dispatches—. It's amazing the myriad complexities not simply of criminality, but devious undercutting of legitimate systems. So, I think some of the work—. We're doing some interesting stuff, for example, on digital, moving away from the current manual system of tracking waste and mapping waste to digital mapping of waste and so on. And again, I can put this within the letter that I'll write to you. There are probably 101 interventions that we need to change behaviours of producers and consumers.

Local authorities would welcome this, and also the costs of fines and the cost of taking somebody to court needs to be looked at as well, if possible. Just the last one, really, is food waste. So, again, a lot of food waste is still going into bins. We've got the regional consortiums in place, which is really good, working with Welsh Government. So, how are we going to be tackling food waste from going into the residual stream?

I'm so glad you mentioned this, because this is really a changing of the culture that we've had around food waste. And, as everybody will know, there are a lot of criticisms of the current system that we have, where people are almost incentivised to over-buy prepackaged products and then it ends up in waste, and then where does that waste go as well? There are a number of things that we can do on this. Part of it, by the way, is the separation of food waste. That's the starting point. All of the tricky stuff we're currently going through with our local authorities, that is part of it, so we separate out food waste. It's now been successfully rolled out by all local authorities in Wales. Workplaces are now being required to separate food waste as well. That's challenging, but it's working. I do it in my own office at the moment with my suppliers.

FareShare Cymru now we're funding, as you know, and have been for some time, looking at the distribution of surplus food to organisations, and not only food banks, but food pantries as well. So, the emphasis is not simply on the issue of hunger, but also on the issue of dealing with food waste and food surplus and redistribution. I and my family regularly go to a food pantry, because of our commitment to make sure that we don't have stuff going to landfill, or to other uses.

The sustainability food clusters are doing work on this as well. The Climate Action Wales campaign that we've been running includes tips on how to reduce food waste and to make sustainable food choices, because there is a piece in this about helping people inform the ways in which they can avoid waste: shop wisely, store their food appropriately, use it well as well. We've got a 'Be Mighty. Recycle.' campaign as well—Welsh Government's 'Be Mighty', which is focused on food waste prevention, and, of course, WRAP Cymru are doing their Love Food Hate Waste campaign as well. So, there's plenty within that space that we're doing.

But, with all that going on, to have just seen a 5 per cent reduction in food waste levels since 2007 is quite disappointing, isn't it?

It shows the stickiness of this issue, and, if we look even at one aspect of that, the part I mentioned about retailers and the propensity to provide for consumers packages of food, often heavily wrapped, that allow them to over-buy, with incentives to over-buy. Now, I'm reinstigating the fortnightly—. Sorry, fortnightly; I'm reinstigating the regular—don't tell them fortnightly, for goodness's sake—meetings with retailers, and this is the sort of thing that I want to put on the agenda with them, to say, 'You've got a role in this; how do we make it easier for people to buy wisely, use the food properly and minimise the waste that they have?' So, it's those sorts of interventions. But you are right, Chair; it absolutely shows how sticky this issue is. We've got to make it easy for people to do this, and there's a role for all of us within that.

Please can you tell them to put doors on the chillers, on the fridges, rather than just—you know, impulsive purchasing, as well to save the energy? Thank you. I'll just put that there in quick.

If this committee has any suggestions, going forward, as to what I should be discussing with retailers, I'd be really interested.

There we are. Well, there are two there. Okay, thank you very much. We'll move on now then to Janet.

Thank you. How are you working with the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice, and other members of your Cabinet, to ensure that sustainable development is embedded across all portfolios?

Well, the good thing is, I would say, on the upside, we're in a better place than most other nations of the UK. Because this is embedded now, 10 years on, within our well-being of future generations legislation, sustainable development rides right across Government. So, it's not simply me and it's not just the Cabinet Secretary for social justice, it is all of us. But, if I am nimble enough here with my fingers here for a moment, I might be able to give you some—. I've already met, by the way, with the Cabinet Secretary for social justice to—

What about, say, like health? We need sustainability in our health boards and things.

Yes, entirely. So, it goes right across every portfolio area. But, last year, we published a plan with over 50 actions to deepen the understanding and practice of sustainable development principles in the Act into how the Welsh Government works. So, this was our substantive response to the report and recommendations of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. We've published, in May, an update of our progress against the actions in the plan. So, I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice, because I've discussed this with her, met and discussed this with the future generations commissioner in the stakeholder forum back in May.

But how are they applying it in their everyday work, if you like?

So, it's rooted—.The principles of sustainable development are embedded now within everything that we do within Government. That is the signal difference between us and other Governments, curiously, across the UK, and most other Governments—that's why so many people are keen on learning the lessons from us. In fact, we'll be at events later this year discussing this as well. It's our tenth anniversary of that Act this year, of course, so we're keen to see what more we can do. But, Claire, do you want to add on on how we take this right across Government? Because I know that I meet in bilaterals with Ministers, including with Jane Hutt and others, and Lesley Griffiths.

So, there are just, I suppose, a couple of examples that might be helpful. So, starting from the top, the well-being objectives that the Welsh Ministers are required to set out that explain how, basically, the steps we're going to take to deliver against the well-being goals are at the head of the programme for government. The actions that then are set out to be delivered in the programme for government are in that framing, so everything that we do, in any policy area—my former policy area or in this one—has to consider how it is maximising its contribution to those objectives and therefore the goals. And then, alongside that, it's putting into practice the sustainable development principles, so taking decisions that don't jeopardise future generations and applying those ways of working.

So, when we put advice to Ministers, for example, we will have to set out how we have undertaken that consideration in producing the options and the advice that goes forward. And we also have a very comprehensive suite of impact assessments that we apply to all of the policies and programmes we develop. And the first part of that is thinking through how, whatever it is—that thing we're working on—might contribute to the well-being goals, and then that informs the option development, and that should be an ongoing process through the policy development. And just in the case—. I know that you referenced health boards; they're one of the bodies that are captured by the Act. They have their own separate duties on it—under it, rather. They set their objectives, and there is a process of dialogue, as Ministers meet with the bodies they're responsible for, to talk about that, and also they come together with other public bodies with similar duties in public services boards to identify things that can be done together to progress sustainable development in their localities.

And we added to that list in the Senedd yesterday, which has a resource implication, I'd imagine, as well, doesn't it?

It does have a resource implication, but I think it's a signal as well of the fact that we're constantly evolving. And in the application of the Act, we also have—. I've forgotten the name of it, but in responding to the recommendations from the future generations commissioner earlier this year back in May, we also have a part of continual learning within Government about how we can go further—so, not just extending the duty, but how we embed it deeper and make sure that it is happening.

So, if I was to ask you a question now—. In terms of our health boards, for instance, how are they looking to, like we've done here in the Senedd Commission, in terms of sourcing local produce and sustainable food rather than huge carbon, bringing in food—? How does that feed back to you as the Minister responsible? Do you know whether health boards are actually increasing their amount of sustainably sourced local produce?

These are exactly the asks that go to the Cabinet Secretary for health in order to extend the extent of local and fresh procurement and good, healthy nutritious food, and similarly across—

And for schools as well.

Yes. And similarly across other portfolio areas, so they know that they have their statutory responsibilities, but they also have to work in concert then with the other public bodies, including those that we've extended to. And there is a resource implication, of course, but it's the right ask to make, to say we're all in this together.

Cabinet Secretary, if I may, just to add a bit of colour to that—

Breifly, and then we'll have to move on.

I don't know if you've had an opportunity yet, but the previous Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd actually met with some of the key people in the NHS procurement chain, as well as representatives of some of the local authorities on this very point about food procurement, both in the NHS and in education. So, it is one of those areas where you will also want to have those conversations.

Thank you. The other UK environmental governance bodies, the Office for Environmental Protection and Environmental Standards Scotland, were initially set up as shadow bodies in preparation for their statutory powers. This committee recommended the same for Wales. Do you intend to establish a shadow body prior to the relevant legislation coming forward in terms of the governance Bill?

It's probably worth saying that we don't rule it out, but we're starting from a different base here from where some of the other nations are. As you know, Janet, we have the interim assessor established, with limited remit and limited resource as well—and my thanks to the interim assessor for the work that they have been doing—but it isn't a shadow body. But we've also appointed now, recently, two deputy—. I think that's in the public domain.

Yes, it is.

I was going to take a pause then and think, 'I know I definitely appointed them.' So, good, that's reassuring. Because the feedback from the interim assessor was that there was additional support and help that was needed, some additional resource. So, we've done that. But it isn't quite a shadow body, and it doesn't have the functionality of it. We don't rule it out entirely, Janet, but, looking at the chronology of this, of bringing forward the legislation necessary before the end of this Parliament, then the period to put that in place—. If we thought there was a role for putting in place something that looked like a shadow body, we wouldn't rule it out. It would mean, actually, putting in place something with additional functionality. It may be that there's a simple transition from where we are now to actually putting in the environmental governance body. We'd want to see that up and running as soon as possible, subject to the legislation being passed with the Senedd's approval. So, I don't rule it out, but it's not something that we're actively considering at the moment. We're focused more—

Sorry to interrupt you. I think we're all just keen to see that governance body in place. Why waste resources, in a way, setting up another thing, if we've got the interim assessor? Go straight in, get that legislation sorted. We've been calling for it, haven't we?

But if the legislation doesn’t happen until very late in this Senedd, the organisation won't be in being until the next Senedd, I presume.

If we're looking at bringing forward the legislation, bearing in mind we're well advanced—. Just to reassure you, we're well advanced. There's a heck of a lot of work still to do, but we're well advanced on the process of engagement and bringing forward this legislation. If we're bringing that forward as for the programme for government commitment during this Senedd, which still gives us a little time—and we want to get this right, and we don't want this to be absolutely last minute—then actually getting the right things in place so we can put the body in place, that will not be, realistically, Chair, this side of the Senedd elections. But we can put the legislation in place and put the timescale in place then for setting that body up. I would like to see it moving rapidly to the establishment of that body. If a shadow body or some functionality was a worthwhile part of that, great. If we didn't need it, and we could seamlessly transition from a certain date, then that might be preferable. But, again, I'm open to further discussions with you as that legislation comes forward.

Can I just pick up on the appointment of two deputies? Obviously, they're three-year fixed terms, which suggests that they'll be in role until 2027. So, we're looking at, potentially, that additional 12 months into the next Senedd before maybe—. Unless you expect them, potentially, to move across into this new organisation.

We had to pick a date that was a best guess, and to give them the certainty, but—

So, that suggests that there is some sort of timeline in mind.

Yes, but it's not cast in stone that that is the date.

No, I accept that.

I think we were just wanting to—. I suppose 'flexibility' is not the right word, but recognise that there is a process in the Senedd that needs to be completed, and, then, a process to establish the body itself. And we wanted to make sure that we had continuity. So, that's the reason for the appointment length. It's not that that precise date was what we had in mind; it was trying to sort of not be, 'Aargh' at a certain point later in the future.

But it is an indication that we might need them until then.

That's what I thought, yes. Thank you. We'll go on to Julie.

On the biodiversity deep-dive, the biannual update is overdue. Can you tell us when it will be published?

I'm going to turn to my colleague here about the update. I know we're in the process of producing an update on the actions. I think I'm right in saying that we're looking to publish it this summer, if I'm correct. Yes, this summer. You're going to ask me now, 'What does that mean?'

It will be before the summer recess.

Oh, in the next four weeks.

I'm glad my senior official said that. [Laughter.]

Well, that's good news. And can you tell us what progress has been made towards implementing the biodiversity deep-dive recommendations?

Yes, I can. And just to say, I'm continuing to chair the biodiversity deep-dive, the core group as well, so continuing where my predecessor left off—the reports that they produce, the expert groups, the recommendations towards 30x30, and our international obligations as well. Over the last 12 months, one of our key priorities, I have to say, within the department has also been the environmental principles, governance and biodiversity targets Bill. That's part of taking this work forward as well. So, we're looking forward to bringing that forward very shortly as well.

We're not standing still. We've continued to invest as well, of course, in the Nature Networks programme, investing in the resilience of Wales's marine terrestrial protected site networks. We announced in March the funding of £8.2 million for 39 projects right across Wales, and we're shortly going to be opening the fourth round of the Nature Networks fund. I'm going to turn to Claire for any further detail on taking forward the other recommendations within the biodiversity deep-dive.

The Bill is a key area in terms of providing that legislative framework to support targets and progress, and the practical delivery is embedded in things like the Nature Networks programme, but also, as we think about the sustainable farming scheme, and Habitat Wales, and some of those other programmes and their next stage of development and implementation, ensuring that they deliver the kind of practical support that will enable condition improvement. And I suppose the other thing to briefly reference is the connectivity between that biodiversity and things like water quality—so, the work that we're undertaking in relation to SAC rivers, but more broadly in terms of river water quality. Those also are really significant contributors to improving the condition of sites, but also biodiversity more broadly. So, I think we're trying to think about it holistically and that's part of what the deep-dive was looking at, at all those things. Air quality is another area.

There is a frankness here, Julie, as well, in the answers that I'm giving you. We keep having to have internal discussions about prioritising getting on with actions that have been flagged within the biodiversity deep-dive, producing reports on the updates, at the same time as bringing along one of the most major pieces of legislation this Senedd will have seen. There is a real pull across what is a constrained team, a very expert team, a very passionate team—they believe in this stuff, as do the stakeholders out here. But I'm saying this because I know that's a similar discussion that I'm having—understandably, as somebody who's been passionate for the environment as well—with some of my environmental friends out there, who say, 'Yes, but can we just keep on doing everything?' and the reality is we're having to prioritise. But this Bill that is coming forward will be a significant step forward in those issues of biodiversity restoration and embedding principles and so on, and that's part of the 30x30 approach as well, driving forward.

So, are you saying that some of the recommendations you haven't been able to take forward as you would like because of having to concentrate on the Bill as well?

It's mainly the production of the annual report in a timely way. I understand why people want it, but diverting my team to say, 'Take your mind off the Bill for the moment, let's do that' and then—. What I don't want to do is to miss the opportunity to legislate within this Parliament, so I'm really fixated on that now, and on getting that right. So, it has meant a slight lag in the production of the report. The actions are being taken forward—the stuff on the ground. And that's another thing, and you'll find this is a theme within Government, and heaven knows as a recycled Minister I'm really keen on this: it's getting on with stuff rather than producing new stuff to do—getting on with what we said we would deliver. So, we're taking forward the actions. It's just the report has had a slight lag in it.

Thank you.

Carolyn.

You talked there about focusing on certain elements. Local nature partnerships have been doing a lot of great work, working with local authorities, NGOs and volunteers creating local places for nature, managing verges and amenity grasslands as well. I hope that will continue, because change takes a while for biodiversity to come, and to get residents on board as well, with that change. They assume something is looking messy, but actually a wildflower isn't necessarily what they perceive it to be. It can be knapweed or whatever, and they might see that as weeds. Mind you, it's in the name. Or oxeye daisies—really beneficial for biodiversity. So, how are you taking residents along with us and people along with us? And I'm hoping that you will be continuing that funding. When it gets to the end of summer, into September now, people start to complain—. It's the same with waste. There's change. It's partnership working.

And also, my question, really, which is written down here—that's the one I thought about before—is that you mentioned the SFS, so how are you working and taking forward the biodiversity targets into the SFS? We had problems before when we were doing the SFS. We've got biodiversity targets with the NGOs and environmentalists. We've got farmers. So, how are we going to bring them together now we've got this year? Is it education, bringing them together, working together, showing examples of how it can be done, and even an understanding about nature? I've got farmer friends who think, 'I've got a lot of nature, it's fine', they see rabbits and things, but they don't understand that every insect, bee, butterfly is all part of that. It's not just seeing rabbits running around, and foxes.

Everything is connected, across Government but also in nature and our ecosystems. I just want to pay tribute to you and others in the Senedd who've pushed very hard on those local nature interventions, like Local Places for Nature. They're really critical, because they do two things. They provide a direct enhancement of the local environment, as well as improving biodiversity, and so on, but they bring people with us—they really do. It matters, it makes sense. It's not thinking about something on the far side of the world; it's their local corner of their local community. In the past, decades ago, I used to lecture in the Swansea Institute of Higher Education, and I used to tell the students about a book to read by a guy called Jost Krippendorf called The Holiday Makers, and his essential theory within this was that what we need to be focusing on is creating better local spaces for people as opposed to flying all over the world on a regular basis. If you actually have those rough edges, unfinished areas, that's really important for people—for children to play in, as well as for communities to enjoy. But, there's bringing people with us and bringing also local authorities. A lot of good work has been done with that as well.

The sustainable farming scheme is a key thing. These are not silos. With my two colleagues here and the teams that sit underneath them, from the moment that I came into office, what impressed me was that we were sitting down together and discussing the way forward, not rural affairs and agriculture over here and biodiversity and environment over there, but actually together in the same room. And that has been the ethos for going forward, including with the SFS. Having that slight pause now to work it through, it's not a pause to sit back or a pause to rerun; it's what we've described as a preparatory phase, and in that preparatory phase, it is intense. It is intense, and we have sitting around the ministerial round-table not only farming unions and others with a stake in land management, from that perspective, but we have the environmental non-governmental organisations. We have the Soil Association, and so on and so forth, as a real mix, to make sure that, as we develop the SFS, to make sure that it's good to go from the moment that we take it out of the preparatory phase and launch it, it does all of the things we need. So, it does the sustainable food production, it does the sustainable livelihoods, it recognises the social value of the type of farming, but it also addresses the imperatives of the nature and climate emergencies and what we want to do with biodiversity restoration. But, my expert in this is sitting to my right—and to my left, actually. Gian Marco.

I'm happy to add to that. I'm in your hands, Chair.

Well, we're coming to the sustainable farming scheme in a moment, so shall we come back to it in greater detail in a moment? I want to go to marine first, because I know Joyce has been very patient. Those are the two final areas and we have half an hour, so we should be okay.

We need to dip into the water now—[Laughter.]—while keeping our feet firmly on the ground, as you've just said. You've announced a marine Cymru fund, but I'd like to understand how it's going to operate and what the structures are for that operation.

We're really quite excited about the marine fund, because it might point a potential direction of travel here and how we lever in additional funding but with real integrity, as well. So, we've announced, as you know, that the Welsh Government is providing funding to the marine Cymru fund to get it up and running, to make it operational and to draw in—let me be categoric about this—high-integrity sustainable investment. So, what we're hoping is that the fund will be a real exemplar of how you bring together partners to develop a project to achieve those shared outcomes we were just describing for the marine environment.

Now, the fund is going to be voluntary. It is not linked to marine planning or consenting. It will be supported by NRW's mapping of marine ecosystem recovery opportunities and priorities. It should help accelerate our efforts to achieve that vision that I know committee members share that our seas are clean, healthy and safe, and productive and biologically diverse. I think it has real potential here, bringing together partners, with a bit of assistance from the Welsh Government. And what's interesting about this is that, if we can develop it into that exemplar of real, cast-iron, high-integrity sustainable investment, it might flag up other areas that we can actually apply this thinking to as well.

I look forward to it, as you well know. You've got an independent review of marine planning methods ongoing. When is it going to conclude?

I think it's on an ongoing basis with our marine planning. We've recently consulted on strategic resource areas, SRAs, for tidal stream energy, in order to identify and safeguard those areas with potential to support future use by the sector. Lots of people fed in their views as part of that consultation. We're considering them; we'll publish a summary of responses in due course. But then, on the basis of that, subject to the outcome of that consultation, we'll then work with others to develop other SRAs within other sectors. So, for example, floating offshore wind as well. And then, there's the big task of working with stakeholders and NRW to develop the marine planning guidance on the opportunities for ecosystem enhancement and restoration.

So, we are going to commission an independent review of marine planning, and this will help us to develop our thoughts further on how the marine planning framework can provide what a lot of people have been asking for, which is that greater spatial direction within our marine environment. So, we’re working also with the marine management organisation on the cross-border aspects of this. I’m old enough and ancient enough to remember the establishment of the MMO way back when. There is a job of work to do with that as well, and on the UK-wide marine planning through the six-nations network. One of the great achievements of establishing the marine planning back in 2010 was that it was a UK basis, with Wales in there firmly and Scotland, but on a UK basis. I don’t know if we have anything else on the timing, specifically, that we can add to that.

I don't think so. The review hasn't been commissioned yet. So, it's a reflection back on how things are working. It builds on, in the consenting space, the end-to-end review, which was published a couple of years ago and has actually led to some quite significant improvements in the approach to licensing. When we issue the tender, we can inform the committee, if that's helpful, so that you can see the scope of it.

It is. It isn't just my view; it's other people's views that the sea is somewhat being taken for granted as always being there and that it's always going to produce and is always going to work for the good of people to do whatever it is they wish to do with it. So, I'm particularly looking forward to the proposed sites of the marine protected area network, because if we don't start protecting it, it certainly won't be there and the sea is warming up—5 degrees, I think, last year.

Yes, I think you're absolutely right. The challenges and the opportunities in the marine environment are now being well rehearsed and they’re much more in the public conscience, which is good, and they’re part of the debate that we have here in the Senedd, but also we see it frequently and much more often, I’m glad to say, out there in our broadcast media as well. I think there’s a rise in public awareness of this.

On the marine protected area network programme, the idea behind that is that it will support the delivery of the biodiversity deep-dive recommendation on that 30x30 to transform the protected sites so that they are bigger, they are better, more effectively connected and managed well as well, and that’s the key thing as well—it’s not just the identifying and destination and mapping; it’s then actually the management of it. So, we have, with the MPA network programme, completed pre-consultation engagement back in May 2023. NRW and the JNCC—Joint Nature Conservation Committee—

Yes, that's right.

—are in the process of developing their conservation advice for us. My officials are currently seeking to progress the regulatory impact assessment that underpins this. Now, this is critical because it's the understanding that we then develop of the potential implications of any designations, which will help support decision making that I have to make. It's also key with this, as with everything else, that we do this with stakeholders as well. So, we've got to follow a proper process on it. So, that conservation advice from our nature conservation bodies will be coming forward shortly. I don't know what 'shortly' means in terms of timescales, as I'm not familiar with this, but that's only one element of the package. That regulatory impact assessment then of the designation of sites is also going to be critical to my decisions. It'll also be critical in terms of the availability of people to do this work as well outside of Government, so we're cognisant of that, but the work is well in hand.

But we're behind the curve in Wales in terms of protecting our waters, which I find hugely disappointing, so I'm hoping that we're going to not be behind the curve for much longer. My real concern here is that there's potential here in moving forward to exploit the marine environment as we move into the new transition of industrialisation. People talk about the industrialisation of the land with wind turbines, but I don't hear anybody ever talk about potential industrialisation of the sea.

Yes and, do you know, I really think we need to strenuously avoid any suggestion that that's what we're going to do. The concept of sustainability when applied to the marine environment has to do with sustainable use of the resources, and we know that, over many, many years, whether it's fisheries, pipelines, extraction or whatever, we've used the marine environment as a source for economic potential and jobs. But what we haven't done previously is this mapping, this planning forward, sector by sector, piece by piece. And the problem is, as this committee well knows, unlike the terrestrial environment, where we have extensive data and mapping as well, what we're doing is building this piece by piece as we go, and there's a finite amount of resource that we can throw at it. I've been sitting where you are previously and pushing, 'Well, can we do greater data sharing amongst all those that are keen to be out there sustainably making use of these resources?' And I think that is a piece of work that we can take forward as well.

But we cannot be in the place of, if you like, industrial exploitation of our marine environment. Where we need to be is in true sustainability, which is the driving forward what we need to do on habitat protections and conservation, and identifying those areas where you can sustainably make use of the rich assets within our marine environment as well, but not to the degradation of that marine environment. Now, that does mean taking forward the work on the MPA network that does mean taking forward the marine planning, and, if I had a magic wand, I would double, treble, quadruple the amount of funding we could throw into this and accelerate the work that we're doing. Realistically, what we have to do is work with all our partners, including with the environmental NGOs, but also with those potential developers. The marine fund, curiously, is part of this, which we talked about earlier on. How do we utilise the enthusiasm that is there to make sustainable use of this marine asset, but do it without a way of degradation and working with partners to bring all of these things together and forward as fast as we can? But I do share your frustration; I'd like to have done this now. I am the Minister who signed off on the marine planning back in 2009, 2010 in the UK Government. I'd love to have accelerated even further. But I do realise, not just sitting on this side of the table, that it is the perennial complaint of Government that we just don't have enough to do everything that we want in one go. But thank you for the pressure you're putting on us, genuinely. We're trying—we really are trying.

Okay.

Thank you very much. So, will the marine protected area network management framework and action plan be updated? When will they be updated, because I think they're out of date now?

Claire, is there anything you can add to that?

Yes. So, I think we announced a new call for actions in March for input into the updated plan, and we're working through the suggestions people had for inclusion, to then develop a kind of updated, expanded list of actions. And the MPA network management grant scheme provides funding for people to actually take forward those actions practically, and there has been some progress on that.

Okay. Thank you. Right, we'll move on to the sustainable farming scheme now. So, Carolyn.

Regarding the industrialisation of the sea, I just want to say, regarding carbon capture and storage, storing offshore and possible acidification of the sea, this is of huge concern to me and environmentalists, yet it's been pushed forward by industry, by huge businesses, through HyNet, and that's something that I think we need to look at from an environmental point of view. Thank you; just got that in.

So, regarding the SFS, can you give me an update on the carbon sequestration evidence review panel that was intended to inform the SFS development? Which organisations are on the panel from the ministerial round-table, and would you expect this carbon sequestration panel to draw on evidence from the UK CCC? What's 'UK CCC'?

Climate Change Committee.

Thank you. And we talk often about carbon sequestration, but we've lost 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows, okay? We've got some ancient wildflower meadows left, but we also need to have regard for—.

Okay, let's—

So, I'd like you to include that as well.

—answer the question. Yes, sure. Thank you. I think there were about four questions there, sorry. [Laughter.]

No, it's great. So, the point we've got to is I said we would go at pace on this. We've just had the second meeting of the ministerial round-table. That ministerial round-table—I think we've published the organisations that are on that ministerial round-table. Of those, there's been a self-nomination process from those members of—I think there's about—

Eight.

No, how many are on the ministerial round-table? Sorry, we're not making these things too large. We're not doing the classic Welsh Grand Committee approach here; this is at pace, real focus. But there are eight members of that ministerial round-table who have agreed to come together on the carbon sequestration panel. So, we've had two meetings of the ministerial round-table and we're working at pace on that. The carbon sequestration panel is established with those eight members; it's a good cross-section of people on that as well, with really good experience. I've said to them that they need to work at real pace, so whilst the ministerial round-table, I can perceive, will be going through the summer into the autumn—there'll be no holidays for anybody—the carbon sequestration panel will absolutely have no holidays—I've told them this already, and my poor officials—because they will be crunching through the arguments that have been put forward for other methods of carbon sequestration, carbon storage, to be explored and examined.

But the very clear steer, Chair, and Carolyn, is that they need to be things that can work right now, as well as looking at areas that might be in the future. So, what we need to get to is a point very rapidly where we say, 'These are the areas that actually have potential within the SFS. These ones may do some way down the line, but maybe not, and they might merit some further exploration and examination and so on.' So, they've been tasked with a job of work through the summer and to come back and report up to the ministerial round-table, where, ultimately, it will be me. I've had this question asked at the ministerial round-table. It's not an executive body; it is a ministerial round-table, but, ultimately, I'll have to take decisions on it.

Before you come to the other questions—

But what organisations? Can we have a list of what organisations?

Yes, maybe a list would be useful.

Can you e-mail them to us?

Yes, include them in.

I'm always interested to know who they are.

So, the ministerial round-table organisations are already published. We can send them to you though, as well, and I think we're at the point of signing off—. I don't know if we have agreed with the eight members of—with the publishing.

Yes, so the eight members of the sequestration sub-group are there. They've met for the first time. Just to be clear, as well, their role is basically to invite experts to come and present to them and to look at evidence from experts. What that sub-group will then do is, in effect, through the chair, report back to the round-table from what they've heard—

Okay, so there are wider consultees. Okay.

Yes, absolutely. I guess the important thing for the sequestration sub-group isn't so much the eight members—they're acting on behalf of the round-table; it's the list of experts they're going to invite. They've had an initial discussion on who that list will be. I think there needs to be a further discussion, just to hone it down, if I can put it that way.

It would be nice to have that list, though, because there were so many different organisations, just so we know, if we can.

Well, for transparency, I think that's important, but also are minutes being published, or will there be a note of meetings being held? Just generally, how is that going to be—? How are you opening the blinds on all of that, so that people know what's going on?

We've agreed that the ministerial round-table—. The deliberations and discussions—. We have internal notes that are being taken—

I'm asking because people are asking us as Members—

Yes, no, I fully understand.

'It's all gone very quiet. What's happening?', you know.

And there's a deliberate intent behind that, as well, because one of the things that we've discussed at the very first meeting is the way that we will work as a ministerial advisory group and the carbon sequestration group beneath it. We need to work with that collegiate approach, but also with some frankness and honesty amongst each other, and being able to say things that are difficult and challenging and have those conversations. So, this won't be a running commentary, the publication of minutes and whatever. What we will do, however, is when we come to decision points and we say, 'This is what we're doing', or, for example, on the publication of the members, we'll put that out in the public domain with the agreement of all that are sitting round that round-table. It's a slightly different way of working, but it's deliberately designed, Chair, in order to give the trust of all those people there within that that we can speak honestly and frankly and crunch through this at pace, rather than a committee session—

Sure. No, I wouldn't expect it word for word, but certainly, I think people would appreciate knowing who's listening to whom giving evidence on what, you know—

Yes.

—it doesn't need to be the finer detail.

We can take that away and explore that with the members.

Okay. And you've used the phrase 'at pace' a number of times today and previously, what does that mean, because, surely, you give them deadlines? I'm not asking you to tell us what that deadline is, potentially, but, you know, I mean, 'at pace'—.

Yes, we have. We have. So, for example, we know that there's going to be a significant amount of evidence that the carbon sequestration group want to look at, but what we don't want to do is set them off on—. For example, if they had the luxury of saying, 'Let's look at this for the next 12 months', well, that's no good; we actually need it to deliver the SFS in a time so that farmers and everybody else know that they've got some certainty. So, we've said to them, 'You've got a hell of a task ahead of you this summer.' We haven't given them a date, Chair, but we have given them a broad timescale to work into and to report back to the ministerial advisory group.

For the ministerial advisory group, yes, I can assure you, without going into detail, that we have milestones that we're working to, because some of this stuff that we're discussing, we will, I anticipate, be able to agree on before we get to more tricky areas, such as what's lifted up from the carbon sequestration group. So, we are working, within the ministerial advisory group, to clearly understood parameters, remit and also, if not specific dates, pretty clear timescales that we have shared with the group.

But you'll understand why some of the work that we're doing—. Whilst I get the frustrations outside, we're just not doing this by a sort of Welsh Grand Committee approach here, what we're doing is—. What we learnt from the SFS, from the consultation, is that it was pretty clear where the points of agreement were and the points of disagreement were and where the concerns were, and so on. What we're clear on—and I made that clear when I came into the role—what we actually need to do is lock ourselves in a room and work through this with all the stakeholders involved, and that means not doing a running commentary. But we will, Chair, for this committee and for others, when that ministerial advisory group and the sub-group actually have something to report on, we will report it.

Can I just ask—? What came across, quite often, from the farmers was that it's not just about planting trees, it's about managing the wildflower meadows, carbon peatland restoration and the other things that they're doing as well. So, is that what you're looking at, roughly?

All of those things and more.

Thank you. Okay, great.

Gian Marco just—

Well, it's just that people need to hear that, as well, you know.

Yes. All of those things and more.

Great. Thank you.

So, we are. And I think, just coming back to the point you made earlier under the biodiversity discussion, if you look at what our approach is in terms of the habitat requirement, it's very much about trying to build habitat into the productive farming system. So, one of the things we said in the consultation was that, where there isn't sufficient habitat on farm, what we want to see is creation of temporary habitat. So, we don't want to see land taken out of productivity; we want to see habitat created in a way that works with the productive system. The classic example is multispecies swards. So, you can have multispecies swards, which are great for biodiversity and wildlife, but also great for grazing and give you that extra resilience through drought and wet weather, et cetera. So, we are very much trying to do that and work in tune with the environment. And again, I would expect one of the conversations that will happen under the sequestration panel is that role of trees or other ways of sequestering carbon—

Hedges.

—hedges, yes—which are part of the farming system, so they provide shelter thereby reducing input costs, thereby making your farm more efficient, et cetera. So, those are some of the discussions, but as the Cabinet Secretary said, we've deliberately given the carbon sequestration panel—and the terms of reference, actually, were agreed by the round-table at the last meeting—quite a narrow focus to help us input into the scheme design, particularly at that universal layer. Because, potentially, this could be a discussion that could go on for a long time, and we want that focus to help us feed into the scheme design.

Thank you. We've got five minutes left. I know Julie has a number of questions. Joyce, very briefly, if you just want to come in.

It's a very quick one, and you can write to me. Climate change, we know, is happening. The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences have invested heavily—we've invested in IBERS—in alternative plants and methods. So, if you could give us an update, because we haven't got time now, on your work with IBERS on producing things on the land as the land is changing. That's a very short version of my question.

Yes, happy to.

Okay. Diolch yn fawr. Julie.

Diolch. Given the delays with the SFS, how are you going to support farmers in the meantime with their environmental practices?

A really critical question. Not only the year ahead, but last year, we committed to extending the BPS. They didn't do this in England. We've given farmers in the farming community, which is so integral to the structure and the richness of our rural communities, the certainty that the BPS would continue, last year. We've also given them the certainty that, going ahead into the preparatory phase, that will be there as well.

But, in addition to that, last year, even though there were elements of concern and controversy around it, the Habitat Wales Scheme we did take forward. Now, we're constrained by the budgets that are available, as there was less within that budget than we'd have liked to have put. However, what was interesting was it went beyond those people who were in Glastir. The uptake was more significant in terms of the number of people who've joined it, beyond those who were in Glastir originally. We did lose some people who were in Glastir, but others joined who were outside it, and the uptake of land within the HWS is more.

One of the benefits of that, Julie, is that there were concerns over some of the mapping that was being used. Well, the good thing is that we now have mapping. It may be imperfect. I suspect a lot of people out there in different parts of Wales would say, 'That's not right, it doesn't reflect that patch of my field.' Well, that's great, because this summer we can now go ahead and work with the farmers and with the farming unions' support, and others, to say, 'Here's what we've got, improve it now', so that when we get to taking forward the SFS, we can say we've got proper mapping that's informed by farmers and landowners on the ground.

We also, by the way, of course, still have the woodland creation grants in place. So, those farmers who want to—in the right place, with the right tree—can actually choose to opt into woodland creation as well. We still have other forms of grant mechanisms available. So, we're not standing still on this at all.

We're also keen, depending on what we learn from what comes out of the carbon sequestration group, what comes out of the ministerial round-table, to prove by doing on the ground, in this preparatory phase, some of those things such as using different crop leys, et cetera, to do with soil enrichment and so on. All of that work will continue to go on in these months ahead.

Right. And then, just quickly, the committee has heard strong evidence that the proposals didn't go far enough to protect the management of sites of special scientific interest. Will this be addressed?

Gian Marco, if I can.

Yes, absolutely. Just to reassure the committee, we are absolutely keen to do what we can to protect SSSIs. I think it's one of the priorities for the sustainable farming scheme. What we consulted on was a way of trying to do that within the scheme design, which is to say that we pay for action above the regulatory baseline. But, as the Member said, we had widespread feedback from all sides of the debate that we needed to do more.

So, without pre-empting discussions that are going to happen at the round-table, because it's probably one of the first things that's going to come to the round-table, I think it's fair to say that, at a policy level, we are fairly close to finding a way of making sure that, in the development of the SFS, we will have sufficient support at the universal layer for those farmers who farm or who have bits of their farm within a SSSI to be able to take those management actions above the regulatory baseline, and therefore be rewarded for it under the habitat element of the universal layer.

So, those concerns are being addressed.

They are absolutely being addressed. I said to the NFU a while back, it's definitely in my top three of things that need to be addressed. I'm pleased to say—again, without pre-judging discussions—I think we've made good progress internally on trying to find a solution.

Thank you. Can I ask, is there a working date in your mind for the conclusion of all this detail, so that you can move to an implementation phase, or a broad, you know—?

Having given the certainty of the BPS for the year ahead, and to give to all the stakeholders the certainty of when we do this, then we have to be looking to launch the full, all together, from 2026. I can't give you a firm date at this moment. I have in my head when I'd like to, but some of this does depend on the delivery—. But we know we can't slip, because, if we slip, we're into another year of uncertainty and another year of finding funding to support the existing structures. So, it will be 2026.

And the sector will need time to absorb and understand—

Exactly.

—the opportunities they have within the scheme, and all of that.

Very much.

Okay. Well, on that note, can I thank you for your attendance this morning, Cabinet Secretary, and your officials? You will, as always, be sent a draft copy of the transcript, to check for accuracy. We've cantered through a lot of the portfolio there, and we haven't touched other parts, I appreciate. But we will, obviously, revisit as much as we can regularly over the coming few months. So, with that, diolch yn fawr iawn.

I look forward to engaging with you all going forward. Thank you very much.

Diolch yn fawr iawn. Diolch yn fawr. Can I ask Members to remain in the room for a moment? We'll break now, but can I ask Members just to stay here for a moment? Diolch yn fawr.